Archive for November, 2014

It recently dawned on me that the letters of the alphabet are “re-usable” a seemly unlimited number of times. That we can pull one “out of thin air” seemly anytime we want whether talking, writing or thinking. Thus no letter can ever have any real meaning since they are perfectly interchangeable. For example, I can use the letter “A” in CAR or in HAT and a million more times if I like, and it works perfectly every time! The benefit of seeing this is that you realize that if letters are inherently empty of meaning, then so must words be. And if words are empty of meaning, then so are the mind’s stories.

Thoughts refer to an entity called “I” or “me” that cannot actually be found in direct experience. Note that a feeling of “me” is just that, a pure feeling—not an actual living breathing entity. Furthermore, what exactly is a “me” anyway? Says Geshe Tashi Tsering: “This sense of identity is nothing more than a label placed on the ever-changing collection of the body and mind.”

Since it’s ever-changing, the “me” cannot be pinned down as a single thing or entity. In other words, when you refer to yourself as “me,” exactly which “me” are you referring to? The one that got out of bed this morning? The one 10 years ago? The one 5 minutes ago?